A security master is the central database of reference data on financial instruments: identifiers (such as the International Securities Identification Number, ISIN), issuer, currency, coupon, maturity, asset class and corporate action terms. Downstream systems for trading, settlement, accounting and reporting take their instrument data from it, so errors spread widely.
ISIN (International securities identification number)The International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) is the 12-character code defined by ISO 6166 that identifies a security: a two-letter country prefix, a nine-character national code and a check digit. ISINs are allocated by national numbering agencies and are required in EU trade and transaction reporting.
IBOR (Investment book of record)The investment book of record (IBOR) is the record of an asset manager's positions, cash and exposures used by portfolio managers and traders during the day, including trades not yet settled. The accounting book of record (ABOR) holds the official end-of-day positions used for the net asset value; differences between the two are reconciled.
Golden sourceA golden source is the single system or dataset an organisation designates as the authoritative origin for a given data item, such as client static data or instrument prices. Other systems copy from it instead of keeping their own versions. Also called authoritative source or system of record.
Break (reconciliation break)A break is a difference found when two records that should agree are compared, such as a firm's securities position against the custodian's statement, or a trade against the counterparty's confirmation. Breaks are classified by cause and age, investigated, corrected at source and escalated when they stay open.
UPI (Unique product identifier)The unique product identifier (UPI) is a code defined by ISO 4914 that identifies an over-the-counter derivative product type and its reference data, such as asset class, instrument type and underlier. It is issued by the Derivatives Service Bureau and is required in reporting under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR).
Reference dataReference data is the slowly changing data used to classify or describe other data: country and currency codes, industry classifications, calendars, instrument identifiers and legal entity identifiers. Errors in it spread across every system that uses it.
ISIN (International securities identification number)The International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) is the 12-character code defined by ISO 6166 that identifies a security: a two-letter country prefix, a nine-character national code and a check digit. ISINs are allocated by national numbering agencies and are required in EU trade and transaction reporting.
Corporate actionA corporate action, or corporate event, is an action by an issuer that affects its securities and their holders, such as a dividend, a coupon payment, a stock split, a rights issue, a merger or a redemption. Events are mandatory, mandatory with choice, or voluntary, and must be processed along the whole custody chain.